ROSA CAYETANO CUENCO vs.

COURT OF APPEALS
G.R. No. L-24742
October 26, 1973
NATURE OF THE CASE: Petition for certiorari to review the decision of respondent
Court of Appeals
FACTS:
Senator Mariano Jesus Cuenco died in Manila. He was survived by his widow and
two minor sons, residing in Quezon City, and children of the first marriage, residing
in Cebu. Lourdes, one of the children from the first marriage, filed a Petition for
Letters of Administration with the Court of First Instance (CFI) Cebu, alleging that
the senator died intestate in Manila but a resident of Cebu with properties in Cebu
and Quezon City.
The petition still pending with CFI Cebu, Rosa Cayetano Cuenco, the second wife
(widow), filed a petition with CFI Rizal (Quezon City) for the probate of the last will
and testament, where she was named executrix. Rosa also filed an opposition and
motion to dismiss in CFI Cebu but the said court held in abeyance resolution over
the opposition until CFI Quezon City shall have acted on the probate proceedings.
CFI Cebu, in effect deferred to the probate proceedings in the Quezon City court.
Lourdes filed an opposition and motion to dismiss in CFI Quezon City, on ground of
lack of jurisdiction and/or improper venue, considering that CFI Cebu already
acquired exclusive jurisdiction over the case. The opposition and motion to dismiss
were denied. Lourdes filed special civil action of certiorari and prohibition with
preliminary injunction with respondent CA. CA favored Lourdes holding that CFI
Cebu had first acquired jurisdiction.
ISSUES:
1.
Whether or not CA erred in issuing the writ of prohibition against Quezon City
court ordering it to refrain from proceeding with the testate proceedings.
2.
Whether or not CFI Quezon City acted without jurisdiction or grave abuse of
discretion in taking cognizance and assuming exclusive jurisdiction over the probate
proceedings in pursuance to CFI Cebu's order expressly consenting in deference to
the precedence of probate over intestate proceedings.
HELD:
1.
Yes. The Supreme Court found that CA erred in law in issuing the writ of
prohibition against the Quezon City court from proceeding with the testate
proceedings and annulling and setting aside all its orders and actions, particularly
its admission to probate of the last will and testament of the deceased and
appointing petitioner-widow as executrix thereof without bond pursuant to the
deceased testator's wish.

Under Rule 73, the court first taking cognizance of the settlement of the estate of
a decent, shall exercise jurisdiction to the exclusion of all other courts. The
residence of the decent or the location of his estate is not an element of jurisdiction
over the subject matter but merely of venue. Conversely, such court, may upon
learning that a petition for probate of the decedent's last will has been
presented in another court where the decedent obviously had his conjugal
domicile and resided with his surviving widow and their minor children, and that the
allegation of the intestate petition before it stating that the decedent died intestate
may be actually false, may decline to take cognizance of the petition and
hold the petition before it in abeyance, and instead defer to the second
court which has before it the petition for probate of the decedent's
alleged last will.
Implicit in the Cebu court's order was that if the will was duly admitted to probate,
by the Quezon City court, then it would definitely decline to take cognizance of
Lourdes' intestate petition which would thereby be shown to be false and improper,
and leave the exercise of jurisdiction to the Quezon City court, to the exclusion of all
other courts.
2.
No. Under the facts, the Cebu court could not be held to have acted without
jurisdiction or with grave abuse of jurisdiction in declining to take cognizance of the
intestate petition and deferring to the Quezon City court. Necessarily, neither could
the Quezon City court be deemed to have acted without jurisdiction in taking
cognizance of and acting on the probate petition since under Rule 73, section 1, the
Cebu court must first take cognizance over the estate of the decedent and must
exercise jurisdiction to exclude all other courts, which the Cebu court declined to do.
Furthermore, as is undisputed, said rule only lays down a rule of venue and the
Quezon City court undisputably had at least equal and coordinate jurisdiction over
the estate.
NOTE (additional info):
Opposition to jurisdiction of trial court in settlement proceedings should be
by appeal: Under Rule 73, section 1 itself, the Quezon City court's assumption
of jurisdiction over the decedent's estate on the basis of the will duly
presented for probate by petitioner-widow and finding that Quezon City was
the first choice of residence of the decedent, who had his conjugal home and
domicile therein with the deference in comity duly given by the Cebu court
could not be contested except by appeal from said court in the original
case except when want of jurisdiction appears on the record.
When proceedings for settlement of estate will not be annulled even if court
had improper venue: the mischievous effect in the administration of justice"
of considering the question of residence as affecting the jurisdiction of the
trial court and annulling the whole proceedings only to start all over again the
same proceedings before another court of the same rank in another province
is too obvious to require comment. It would be an unfair imposition upon
petitioner as the one named and entitled to be executrix of the decedent's

last will and settle his estate in accordance therewith, and a disregard of her
rights under the rule on venue and the law on jurisdiction to require her to
spend much more time, money and effort to have to go from Quezon City to
the Cebu court everytime she has an important matter of the estate to take
up with the probate court.